Just started 1 week in..new chest pain?!

See. Your. Doctor.

If it happens again, go to the emergency room.

Really. Chest pain is not a thing to mess around with. The old platitude "better safe than sorry" applies here.

If you got that peak heart rate from the 220-age formula, I'd assume you're 68. Speaking as a 67 y/o myself, who also spent a number of years overweight/obese, we tend to accumulate some problems related to that high bodyweight. Many are minor issues, but they can be really, truly major.

Doctor. Soon. Please.

I did.

I went and got a full battery of heart tests. The reassurance was grand. Like a dark cloud off my shoulders, especially due to family history of heart problems on both sides.

Now if I have have dizziness during training, I am confident it’s from lack of proper breathing techniques, or knowing chest pain is probably a slightly strained muscle, and not a heart attack.

It will make a world of difference in your attitude to get that monkey off your back.

As a professional in the business, I'll advise you to go see a physician and get CLEARED before you do any exercise for now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ndpndntcaligirl wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

I did.

I went and got a full battery of heart tests. The reassurance was grand. Like a dark cloud off my shoulders, especially due to family history of heart problems on both sides.

Now if I have have dizziness during training, I am confident it’s from lack of proper breathing techniques, or knowing chest pain is probably a slightly strained muscle, and not a heart attack.

It will make a world of difference in your attitude to get that monkey off your back.

What kind of tests did u do? I'm scared reading some of them like heart catherization? Did ur pain go away?

I went through a similar thing to @springlering62, too.

Generally, they'll start with less invasive tests, such as electrocardiograms, chest X-rays, CT scans or other imaging techniques, or a treadmill stress test. Here's an article from the US NIH about common tests before a heart cath:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/cardiac-catheterization/preparing

If certain kinds of things are observed in the preceding tests, a heart catheterization might then be recommended.

Keep in mind that you can refuse any medical procedure or treatment you don't want to have. I wouldn't personally recommend that you refuse a heart cath if there's a reason to do it, but you do have a choice.

Just another story. I had (notice past tense) a friend who was exercising at the Y. Felt some slight chest pain. It went away but she called her cardiologist and told him it really was no big deal, it went away when she stopped. Made an appointment for the next morning, she died that night. She was active and seemed healthy, had been having the slight pain on and off, but it went away when she stopped. I lost a friend.
A true story, not a scare tactic. A true friend and not a second hand story.
SEE A DOCTOR. It may very well be nothing, but be safe.

ndpndntcaligirl wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

I did.

I went and got a full battery of heart tests. The reassurance was grand. Like a dark cloud off my shoulders, especially due to family history of heart problems on both sides.

Now if I have have dizziness during training, I am confident it’s from lack of proper breathing techniques, or knowing chest pain is probably a slightly strained muscle, and not a heart attack.

It will make a world of difference in your attitude to get that monkey off your back.

What kind of tests did u do? I'm scared reading some of them like heart catherization? Did ur pain go away?

Nah. They’re not going to go to the extreme of a catheterization unless there’s a reason for it.

I started out a hundred pounds overweight. I went from absolute zero exercise to moderate amounts to doing stuff several hours a day. (It was/is such a joy to be off the sofa!!!!).

When I started getting random chest pains and a hard time catching my breath when climbing stairs, I got worried I’d put too much stress on my heart with years of obesity followed by a comparatively quick ramp up to being highly active.

My first visit was X-ray and an electrocardiograph. Second visit was the treadmill stress test. You simply go as long and as hard as you can and can tell them when you’re ready to quit. It wasn’t torture.

I forget what we did on the third, so it was obviously no biggie, and he gave me a clean bill of heart health. That one might have been an EKG. I get all these terms mixed up.

At no point was I poked or prodded, other than maybe a blood withdrawal, and maybe some jelly on my chest (I may be imagining that?), and some of those soft candy textured patches they stuck to you to hook the cables to. In other words, it was so calm and low key, I barely remember the visits.

HUGE relief. Massive!

There is zero harm in being proactive. This is your health and your one body. You gotta own it. Don’t be scared of the doctor. Mine was actually very kind and told me I’d done the right thing coming in, especially with my family history and own prior history of Rheumatic Fever a few years ago, which can cause serious residual heart damage.